What are you looking for?

Select Page

Anger As Carnival Introduce Stricter Dining Policy For Latecomers

Carnival Cruise Line have just announced their decision to begin testing out a new dining rule on two of their cruise ships.

Only guests travelling onboard Carnival Glory and Carnival Conquest who have opted for traditional (early and late seating) dining will be affected by this new policy; any passengers who arrive for dinner more than 30 minutes after their assigned time will be turned away and asked to enjoy their evening meal on the Lido deck.

The reason behind the brand’s new rule is a result of delays to guests’ meals when other passengers arrive late for their reservation. The dining room servers prefer to keep everyone on the same course, but this becomes difficult when guests arrive 45 minutes to an hour after their scheduled time.

The www.CRUISE.co.uk team asked our specialist cruise community about their thoughts on the matter…

Jenkin gave us their opinion: ‘Waiting for table companions to join a table is frustrating. On several occasions on our cruises, three of our fellow diners decided to dine in a speciality restaurant last minute, without the courtesy of any prior notice. We sat in limbo, not knowing whether to order or not. This must be annoying for the waiting staff as well!’

Sparkle put themself in the other guest’s shoes: ‘I don’t do set dining times but if I did, then I would accept this is a reasonable policy. 30 minutes is very generous, I think 15 or 20 minutes should be the max for latecomers.’

Wilba had less tolerance for those who arrive late: ‘Why give people an option to be late at all? I have done about 100 cruises and have never ever been late for an evening meal. Give people an inch and they will take a mile!’

The new policy will not affect passengers who have selected Your Time Dining, only those who have opted for set dining times. Carnival is testing this new rule out on only two of their vessels with the hope to make it fleetwide. Over the past few years, the line have been testing programmes on select ships before rolling them out to the rest of the fleet.

But what do you think? Have you been known to be a latecomer? What is your opinion on the new policy? Have your say…

 

What is your reaction to today’s news? Has your evening meal on a cruise been affected by latecomers in the past? Do you agree with our forum members that 30 minutes is a little generous? Or is this something that has not been a problem for you on your cruises with Carnival or any other line?

Leave us your thoughts or visit the forum conversation here to read everyone else’s thoughts and to have your say!

 

Bulletin Editor

Editor and Creative Copywriter of Cruise.co.uk's bulletin blog, bringing you cruise news, tips and guides daily! - Contact: [email protected]

    Previous Articles